Pretending
by Victoria1127
Summary: Shelby's new life comes with some old ghosts.


For goldstars

Shelby Corcoran: Coach of 4-time National Show Choir champions, Vocal Adrenaline. Strong, independent woman. Scene-stealer and showstopper.

But Mother? Well, she was finding out.

It had been a couple of months since she had adopted Beth, and while times were sometimes rough (like when Beth cried and cried and _cried _for no reason _at all_ one night, or the night that she realized she could see the slightest ghost of a mohawk forming on her sweet little head), she was loving motherhood more than she could imagine. Did she miss the crazy competition and the grueling take-no-prisoners rehearsals? Absolutely. She missed her kids. She missed a lot of her old life, but her new life was satisfying her immensely; that much she couldn't dispute.

Every now and then, when Beth would finally drift into a peaceful slumber, Shelby would lay awake in bed, thinking about the future. Beth's first day at school seemed millions of years away, and she didn't even want to think about her being a teenager…and then, inevitably, Rachel Berry would appear in her mind. Rachel Berry, who looked just like her and inherited every ounce of her talent, calling her "Mom" and looking pitiful in that God-awful stapled-together GaGa outfit. Shelby would wonder where she was, what she was doing, and if she was happy. God, she hoped Rachel was happy.

Of course, she would push the thought out of her head right away. Beth was her daughter. She loved Beth more than she ever thought herself capable of loving another human being. Rachel Berry…Rachel Berry was a sweet girl, and her very own flesh and blood, but she wasn't hers. She belonged to two very kind and generous men who had loved her and cared for her all of her life. It would be selfish to expect more to come from it than what had already come out of it. Yes, Rachel wanted it so bad she could taste it, just like she wanted everything else, but Shelby knew the Berry family well, and she couldn't bring herself to take their baby girl from them. Especially now—if Quinn ever came back and wanted a relationship with Beth, she wasn't sure she could handle it without feeling threatened.

A strange cry jolted Shelby out of her thoughts. She had come to recognize Beth's needs by her cries. A gurgle meant she was hungry. A whine meant she wanted to be held or needed to be changed. A wail meant she was in pain. This was none of these. She rushed to the nursery and lifted Beth into her arms. She was feverish. Shelby panicked. They were on the way to the Emergency Room five minutes later.

…

"You know, Dad, if you'd have just listened to me—"

"Rachel, we've already had this discussion in the car. I know, I shouldn't have tried to fix the leak in the roof at night. I should have waited until morning like you said. You were right."

Rachel smiled. Her poor father had fallen off of the roof. Luckily, they had just bought Rachel a new mattress and the discarded one had been sitting on the patio, ready to be taken out with the garbage, which broke his fall. Still, his knee pounded the concrete patio pretty hard, and they didn't want to take any chances. That's how the Berrys ended up in an exam room in the ER at 10pm that night.

"Sweetie?" Hiram looked up at his husband pitifully. "I'm hungry…I saw a snack machine in the hall…"

Leroy rolled his eyes dramatically. Rachel kissed her dad on the cheek. "I'll get it."

Rachel walked down the hallway and turned the corner. She examined all of the choices in the snack machine, desperately hoping that there was a vegan snack in there somewhere.

"I've already looked. Nothing even close to organic."

Rachel spun on her heel and saw none other than Shelby.

And she was holding a baby. Rachel's mouth gaped, grasping for words and not finding a single one.

"This is Beth. My daughter."

"My sister." Rachel whispered softly. She looked at the infant in awe.

"Want to hold her?" Shelby offered.

Rachel nodded and reached out to her. Shelby gently settled the sleeping baby into Rachel's arms.

"She had a fever when I got here. A couple hours later, she's fine." Shelby smiled, looking at the two of them. _My two daughters_, she thought to herself, although she didn't want to admit it.

"Shelby…" Rachel's voice shook, and Shelby didn't have to look at her to know her eyes were filled with tears. "…I miss you."

Shelby nodded. "I miss you too…baby…" She rested a hand on Rachel's shoulder briefly before clearing her throat. "You need to get back to your dads."

"I know." Rachel looked down at Beth. She kissed her gently and handed her back to Shelby. She turned back to the machine and pressed a few buttons halfheartedly.

Shelby would pretend that it wasn't killing her inside as she walked away.


End file.
